Paleogene

Paleogene
66.0 – 23.03 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
A map of Earth as it appeared 45 million years ago during the Paleogene Period, Eocene Epoch
Chronology
−65 — – −60 — – −55 — – −50 — – −45 — – −40 — – −35 — – −30 — – −25 — – M Z C e n o z o i c Cretaceous P a l e o g e n e Neogene P a l e o c e n e E o c e n e O l i g o c e n e Danian Selandian Thanetian Ypresian Lutetian Bartonian Priabonian Rupelian Chattian         ← PETM ← First Antarctic permanent ice-sheets[1] ← K-Pg mass extinction Subdivision of the Paleogene according to the ICS, as of 2021.[2] Vertical axis scale: millions of years ago
Etymology
Name formality	Formal
Alternate spelling(s)	Palaeogene, Palæogene
Usage information
Celestial body	Earth
Regional usage	Global (ICS)
Time scale(s) used	ICS Time Scale
Definition
Chronological unit	Period
Stratigraphic unit	System
Time span formality	Formal
Lower boundary definition	Iridium enriched layer associated with a major meteorite impact and subsequent K-Pg extinction event.
Lower boundary GSSP	El Kef Section, El Kef, Tunisia 36°09′13″N 8°38′55″E / 36.1537°N 8.6486°E / 36.1537; 8.6486
Lower GSSP ratified	1991[3]
Upper boundary definition	Base of magnetic polarity chronozone C6Cn.2n. Near first appearance of the Planktonic foraminiferan Paragloborotalia kugleri.
Upper boundary GSSP	Lemme-Carrosio Section, Carrosio, Italy 44°39′32″N 8°50′11″E / 44.6589°N 8.8364°E / 44.6589; 8.8364
Upper GSSP ratified	1996[4]
Atmospheric and climatic data
Mean atmospheric O2 content	c. 26 vol % (125 % of modern)
Mean atmospheric CO2 content	c. 500 ppm (1.8 times pre-industrial)
Mean surface temperature	c. 18 °C (4.5 °C above pre-industrial)

The Paleogene Period (IPA: /ˈpeɪli.ədʒiːn, -li.oʊ-, ˈpæli-/ PAY-lee-ə-jeen, -⁠lee-oh-, PAL-ee-; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period 23.03 Ma. It is the first period of the Cenozoic Era, the tenth period of the Phanerozoic and is divided into the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs. The earlier term Tertiary Period was used to define the time now covered by the Paleogene Period and subsequent Neogene Period; despite no longer being recognized as a formal stratigraphic term, "Tertiary" still sometimes remains in informal use.^[5] Paleogene is often abbreviated "Pg", although the United States Geological Survey uses the abbreviation "Pe" for the Paleogene on the Survey's geologic maps.^[6][7]

Much of the world's modern vertebrate diversity originated in a rapid surge of diversification in the early Paleogene, as survivors of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event took advantage of empty ecological niches left behind by the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles, and primitive fish groups. Mammals continued to diversify from relatively small, simple forms into a highly diverse group ranging from small-bodied forms to very large ones, radiating into multiple orders and colonizing the air and marine ecosystems by the Eocene.^[8] Birds, the only surviving group of dinosaurs, quickly diversified from the very few neognath and paleognath clades that survived the extinction event, also radiating into multiple orders, colonizing different ecosystems and achieving an extreme level of morphological diversity.^[9] Percomorph fish, the most diverse group of vertebrates today, first appeared near the end of the Cretaceous but saw a very rapid radiation into their modern order and family-level diversity during the Paleogene, achieving a diverse array of morphologies.^[10]

The Paleogene is marked by considerable changes in climate from the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, through global cooling during the Eocene to the first appearance of permanent ice sheets in the Antarctic at the beginning of the Oligocene.^[11]